Bob Ford

INQUIRER COLUMNIST

Bob Ford is an award-winning sports columnist for the Inquirer. He is a four-time Pennsylvania Sportswriter of the Year, as selected by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association. His work has been cited numerous times by Associated Press Sports Editors judges, and he won an Eclipse Award for outstanding coverage of horse racing. Prior to becoming a columnist at the Inquirer, Ford was the 76ers beat writer for six seasons and then a general assignment feature writer with a specialty in Olympic sports. In 1995, he was designated a fellow of the Knight Center for Specialized Journalism. Ford has written sports in the Philadelphia area since 1981, when he served as the Phillies beat writer and later as a general sports columnist for the Delaware County Daily Times.

More by Bob Ford

There's always a couple of surprises when the 53-man roster is announced, and predicting those are risky business. Figuring out what the Eagles will do today is no different, particularly as the race to put A.J. Feeley in another uniform speeds up.

One selection that would have been a surprise at the beginning of camp might no longer be that much of a shock. At the fourth running back position, behind Brian Westbrook, Leonard Weaver and LeSean McCoy, I'd put Eldra Buckley on the roster rather than Kyle Eckel. (If there are any Lorenzo Booker fans out there, best of luck with that one.)

Buckley, in the opportunities he has had, takes the ball, runs straight ahead and knocks people over. Those are three good things. If he makes the team, his contributions would probably be mostly on special teams and he's not that big (5-foot-9, 205), but he's earned a spot.

If it were my calls, I'd also keep cornerback Dmitri Patterson over Jack Ikegwunou, and linebacker Matt Wilhelm over Tracy White. I'm a little nervous about the middle linebacking position and Wilhelm has experience in the middle of the field, albeit in a 3-4 defense. Otherwise, the Post Patterns projection looks just about like everyone else's. Dan Klecko is really on the bubble to make the D-line as is either Brandon Gibson or Reggie Brown at wide receiver.

Should the Eagles swap Feeley to New England for a tight end -- Alex Smith and Ben Watson are the bubble boys there -- I'd cross Matt Schobel off the 53-man list, too.